


Yellow and Black

by Chaerring



Category: Marvel (Movies), The Avengers (2012), Thor (2011)
Genre: Bruce is an eye stalker, Darcy has a tattoo, F/M, Tony gives good advice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-05
Updated: 2012-06-05
Packaged: 2017-11-07 00:32:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/424921
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chaerring/pseuds/Chaerring
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Or Three Times Bruce Saw Darcy's Tattoo and the First Time Darcy Offered to Show Him</p>
            </blockquote>





	Yellow and Black

**Author's Note:**

  * For [coffeebuddha](https://archiveofourown.org/users/coffeebuddha/gifts).



> Disclaimer: Characters aren't mine!
> 
> Special Thanks to Coffeebuddha for her prompt: "Darcy has a tattoo."
> 
> Thanks like always to TheGreatSporkWielder for beta-ing.

The first time Bruce caught a glimpse of Darcy's tattoo, he couldn't tell what it was. All he saw was a flash of ink as she stretched up for the iced coffee Tony was holding over her head. He'd been playing around with the air conditioning system, leaving the labs much hotter than they normally were, and forcing Darcy out of her usual bulky sweatshirt. 

Bruce had gotten about a third of the work done that he usually did, that day. It wasn't his fault that working with Jane Foster on a viable recreation of the Einstein-Rosen to bring Thor back to Earth also meant working with her beautiful lab assistant, and it really wasn't his fault Tony had caught onto his attraction and decided the best way to help him was to wreck the air conditioning in the lab for a little while. It didn't bother him at all because he'd spent the past few years in sweltering climates. Dr. Foster was about as bothered as him; her only concession to the heat was stripping off her flannel shirt and looking slightly more manic that she usually did.

Darcy, though; Bruce thought he was about to cause an incident with The Other Guy when she stripped her sweatshirt off and tied her hair up in a rubber band. He wasn't blind. He'd noticed how beautiful Jane's assistant was before. Even if he hadn't noticed when she'd first walked in the door, he definitely would have after she spoke. It wasn't just the fullness of her figure or the bright color her lips had, whether it was seven in the morning or midnight. It was the way she grinned cheekily at anyone from Natasha to himself and always said what she was thinking. His eyes kept trailing to the exposed curve of her neck and following the slight sheen of sweat that developed on her skin. Who knew under the bulky sweatshirts she was actually wearing tank tops the whole time? 

The only good thing about that day was that Bruce's inability to focus eventually forced Jane to call a break so she could work out her frustrations on some unsuspecting volunteer in the gym.

The second time Bruce saw Darcy's tattoo he caught half of it peeking out between a halter top and jeans that rode low on her hips when he bumped into her after hours. It was physically impossible for him to stop his eyes from roaming up and down her form before lingering on the peek of yellow and black between the bright green of the halter top and dark blue of her fitted jeans. He knew his heart rate was climbing, and from her smirk she hadn't missed his twice over or the lingering look. He really did intend to keep his eyes on her face, _really_ he did, but that little bit of yellow kept catching his eyes. Not to mention her halter was scooping and green which was _his_ color; well, The Other Guy's. 

"Going out?"

He was proud of the way his voice stayed level and he managed to bring his eyes back up, if not to her eyes, then at least to her lips that are even redder than normal. 

"Yep! College friend in town for the weekend. We're going clubbing."

Bruce was pretty sure something in his brain broke when she swept her eyes over him in return and grinned.

"You should come, some of the others are."

For once he didn't feel like the invitation was a way to mock him.

"I don't really think that's a good idea."

She shrugged and brushed past him in the hallway. He could smell the light perfume she wore.

"Suit yourself."

He only watched her walk away until she got to the end of the hall. It was a test of even his self control not to follow her around the corner.

The third time Bruce saw Darcy's tattoo he saw _all of it_ at an Avengers pool party graciously hosted by Tony. She was reclining on an inflatable raft in the pool. Her bathing suit was modest compared to most of the ones he had seen in the summer advertisements and on television, but it still left what seemed to him like miles of beautiful creamy white skin on display. 

Including the bright yellow and black bat signal on Darcy's hip. 

Darcy Lewis was like every geeky teenager's wet dream, and Bruce had once been a _very_ geeky teenager. It wasn't fair that he met her after he was too old and too dangerous to date anyone. 

"You know you could stop stalking her with your eyes and ask her on a date." 

"Not going to happen, Tony, but I appreciate your confidence in me."

For once, Tony let it go, and Bruce went back to wishing he could stop watching her, or at least wishing he felt safe enough about The Other Guy to indulge in the ridiculous amounts of alcohol available.

It was a week after the pool party when Bruce went back to his lab and found Darcy waiting there for him. 

"So I'm curious, Doc. Is it my boobs, or just the tattoo?"

Bruce felt himself stumble and he swallowed, fighting the urge to turn and exit the lab again.

"Er....both? Or rather I should say, all of you? You're very attractive. Physically and personality-wise."

He watched her eyebrow raise skeptically and wondered if he should have left anyway.

"Okay. I'll bite. So you think I'm hot. Why didn't you just hit on me and be done with it instead of doing the staring thing?"

"Because that would be wrong?" 

Bruce was having a hard time convincing himself of that, but he knew it was true.

"Yes. It would be wrong."

"Because I'm just a dumb lab assistant and you're a genius?"

It seemed like she was testing or prodding him for something. He didn't think he was passing.

"No! It's not your fault at all, I mean, Jane's a genius and Thor is....obviously not. It's just more the fact that I'm _dangerous_."

She nodded and crossed the distance between them to stand in front of him.

"You just compared me to Thor levels of attractiveness, didn't you?"

Bruce was sure there was a right answer floating around somewhere in his mind, but she was standing far too close to for him to be able to grasp at it with any certainty.

"Yes? Though really I think you're much more attractive than him."

She grinned and he felt like someone had suddenly turned on twenty more lights in the room with how bright the expression was. It was a spectacular feeling to know he'd caused it. Her hand came to rest on his chest and he could feel the warmth of her skin searing through the cotton of his shirt.

"How about I let you take a closer look at my tattoo, Doc?"

As much as he should have, Bruce never had it in him to say no if she was offering.


End file.
